World Cup History

England robbed?

2010-06-30T04:55:00.000-07:00

For of the equalizer, yes, but we all know that over the 90 minutes Germany were far superior.

Anyway, those interested in when the boot was on the other foot can see the story of the 1966 Final here. It's important to remember that more than 40 years after 1966 nobody is certain whether the ball crossed the line. Two minutes after the goal on Sunday the world knew there had been a huge mistake.

Pele Predictions

2010-06-09T03:51:00.000-07:00

Pele is arguably the greatest player of all time - he is certainly the worst forecaster as you can see here

Curse of the England Captain

2010-06-05T06:02:00.000-07:00

First John Terry then Rio Ferdinand - the captain's armband may seem a curse this year. In fact bad luck has always surrounded leading the England team. Even Bobby Moore, who lead England to their only triumph, spent the days before the following tournament in jail - see here for details. And many blamed his participation in the 1974 World Cup for England's failure to qualify.

Bryan Robson also miss most of both 1986 (shoulder) and 1990 (achilles) while David Beckham may not think of the Jules Rimet trophy with any affection. He was sent off in the crucial game against Argentina in 1998 but taking the armband in 2001 brought no better fortune. Unfit during the 2002 tournament (broken metatarsal) he went off injured in his last game as captain against Portugal in 2006.

Will things work out better for Steven Gerrard? England fans hope so but with the injury-prone Ledley King now the key figure in defence it he should avoid black cats and keep his fingers firmly crossed.

England V USA

2010-06-03T04:01:00.000-07:00

England go into their World Cup match against the USA with great confidence. They are amongst the tournament favourites, while nobody seriously believes that a north American will be collecting the Jules Rimet Trophy.

A formality, surely? That's what the English FA believed 60 years ago this summer. Read about what happened here.

Why were there only 13 teams in the 1950 World Cup?

2010-05-27T22:26:00.000-07:00

After a 12 year break caused by World War 11, FIFA invited 16 countries to play in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. There were many organisational problems because many countries could not or would not participate. None of the eastern European countries felt strong enough to compete while Argentina was unhappy that they were not the hosts.

The British teams agreed to compete. England qualified as British Champions but withdrew. Turkey and India also withdrew - in India's case because FIFA did not allow them to play in bare feet.

FIFA then invited France, Ireland and Portugal. These days any national team would be on the first available plane - but all declined.

For the remarkable story of what happened at the tournament go here:

How many European teams played in the first World Cup?

2010-05-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

Only four European teams competed in the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930: France, Romania, Belgium & Yugoslavia And they travelled there together on the same ship.

King Carol of Romania personally paid for his players, who travelled in the third class section (luckily there were no iceburgs or they may not have got the lifeboats!)

Only the French team travelled first class, only joining players from the other nations to train on the ship's deck.

There is no mention of how the WAGS (wives & girlfriends) travelling - I can't see the modern ones accepting third class tickets, somehow.